Friday, April 3, 2015

Xantrex Inverter/Converter

Well, we are now the proud owners of a new Xantrex power management system. The old Xantrex RS-3000 unit failed a while back and it wasn't repairable according to the technician. He tried, but it kept failing even after he repaired the fan motor.

The new unit came in earlier this week and the tech spent over 3 hours installing and testing the new one. Since the remote panel with the old unit wasn't compatible with the new one, we had to purchase it also. The extended warranty company put $2500 in the pot and we paid our deductible and for the remote. Our share wasn't too bad considering what the total cost was. Not that we got off cheaply, but it could have been worse. At least this Xantrex unit is repairable if it fails in the future.

Everything is working fine now and we can also monitor our batteries from the remote. It gives us a lot of information and now I have to figure out what it all means. May have to go back to electrical school to fully understand it all. I am glad that I didn't have to take out and install the new Xantrex since it was in a very difficult place to access. It was worth the money to not have to fool around with it.

We are in the "getting ready to hit the road" mode and trying to find space to store all the new "stuff" we picked up the last 4 months. Some stuff will have to be left behind so the rest fits in the bins. It's amazing how fast every little nook and cranny is filled up if you aren't careful. Of course all that "stuff" weighs a lot and we will be traversing the Rocky Mountains on our way back East.

Our plans are to leave Tucson around April 13-15 and head for Buckskin Mountain State Park on the Colorado river just south of Havasu City, AZ. Then it will be on to Las Vegas, Reno, Napa, Oregon, Washington and then take the northern route back to Pennsylvania. Nothing is definite of where we are going and how long we will stay there. Winging it is more fun for us and when we get to an intersection we will figure out which way to go.

Time to ride off into the sunset.

The weather here in Tucson has turned hot with temps in the 90s everyday, however the nights are still cool and we have great sleeping weather. It won't be long before the nights will be hot and hopefully we will be out of here by then. As usual, the last week or so is taken up with dinner dates, doctor appointments, and service for the motor home and car. Nothing major, but time consuming.

Maybe with the change of scenery the blog will be updated more often and hopefully not so boring. Then again, maybe not. I read a number of blogs and it seems that every day another blogger is hanging it up and will no longer be maintaining their blog. It becomes a chore for many people and they don't like the pressure put on them. In most cases the pressure is put on by themselves.

I still like to blog when something is more or less interesting. One problem I do have with blogging is that everyone knows what we are doing, but it is mostly a one way street. It is nice to hear from people and hear how they are doing and what's happening in their lives. Facebook fills in some of the gaps and that works for me.

Always a good thing to have everything working before you head out. You are definitely going to be covering a whole lot of territory on your journey back east. Hopefully by the time you get back the snow or flooding will be gone. We won't be leaving until about the middle of May so it will be warm here. I find blogging is hard when we are just sitting here in AJ living life. I love recording our travels though so I can go back and read about them later.

You have probably covered all of these but in case you missed one, Bryce Canyon, Needle in Seattle (you reserve for lunch or dinner and you go right up) and don't skip Medora ND a must going across ND if you should go that way. Steaks on a pitchfork and the amphitheater and tourist trap at Medora.. Sure is a climb thru some of those areas the way you are going. Better donate a lot to Goodwill before you leave. Have fun!Happy Easter!!